


Fear & Love

by writerstrash



Series: Mr. Stark & His Kid [13]
Category: Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Comfort, Gen, Hurt Peter, Peter is very lucky, Protective Parents, Tony & May bond, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony realizes he's kind of a dad, and very loved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22647898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerstrash/pseuds/writerstrash
Summary: Peter gets hurt and while he heals, May and Tony spend some time together.
Relationships: May Parker (Spider-Man) & Peter Parker & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Mr. Stark & His Kid [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1402432
Comments: 1
Kudos: 84





	Fear & Love

Tony could see May walking down the corridor, her expression stern with worry. He was sitting on the chairs just outside the surgery, tapping his foot and dreading this very moment. Tony had readied himself for a very painful slap across his face or a kick to a very sensitive area. 

"Where is he?" she demanded, unable to fake her way through any pleasantries.

"In surgery," Tony sighed, standing up to brace himself. "Bruce is patching him up, so is Helen Cho. He's got the best of the best looking out for him, I promise you,"

May's eyes glanced toward the door, realising that her nephew was on the other side. 

"Is he...is he gonna be okay?" 

"They said he's gonna be fine," Tony nodded. "Just a matter of healing,"

Nodding her head in silence, May began to spin around slowly, pacing the small area. 

"Do they need anything from me?" she asked, panicked. "Medical history? Blood type? Allergies?"

"They've got everything," 

Tony could tell she was freaking out. This had been his own reaction just an hour ago, right after they had taken Peter from him. He had never been so glad to be spending the weekend at the Compound. Peter's suit routed him to Tony's location, which thankfully happened to be at the facility that housed the best medical team for the Avengers. He shuddered to think about what would have happened if he had been spending the weekend at the Tower or the lake. 

That was a thought he couldn't entertain. He was having enough trouble wiping the image of Peter's bloodied body crawling in through the window of the Compound training room. That would stick with him forever.

"What happened?" May asked, her voice soft and scared as if she really didn't want to hear the answer.

Tony didn't want to give the answer, either.

"Carjacking in a back street," Tony explained. "Looked pretty standard, but...they were waiting for him. A few guys were hiding nearby, just came over and..."

May watched him carefully, her stomach churning.

"And?"

"He got stabbed three times. Two in the abdomen, one in the shoulder,"

May looked like she was about to vomit. Tony put his hands on her shoulders and guided her to the seat, lowering her down and offering his cup of water. She was shaking too much to even lift it to her lips, so Tony helped with that too. 

"He's gonna be okay," Tony reminded. "That's the best team to be with him in there,"

"He came straight to you?" May asked, gulping down another mouthful, her hand steadied by Tony's.

"The suit has a kit inside that temporarily patches him up so he can get help. Then it sent him to my location. May, I..." he began, shaking his head. "I'm sorry,"

May looked at Tony, his head hung low as he knelt down in front of her. He looked exhausted. Run down. Completely drained of emotion and energy and everything that normally made him who he was. He looked like a man that was scared out of his mind. He looked like a parent.

With his hand still in her own, May swiped her thumb across his skin and squeezed.

"Why are you sorry, Tony? You got him here,"

"Exactly. I got him here," he pointed out. "I got him hurt,"

"No, you didn't-"

"I made that suit for him, May. Specifically for him. And they cut right through it. I was working on upgrades to strengthen durability, we were working on it together and I should have made it a priority. I should have monitored him more. It should have had an non-negotiable alert that would be sent to me-"

"Tony, you know Peter just like I do," she began. "He has a mind and will of his own. What happened today...it would have happened whether he was in the suit or in a hoodie. Peter is too good to let things go, and he's too proud and scared to let people know when things go wrong,"

Tony let out a long sigh, shaking his head. May was right, but it did nothing to ease his guilt. 

"You should be mad," he told her. "You should hate me."

"I could never hate you," she shook her head, leaning back in her chair. "I used to think that I did, but I don't,"

"Why? Look what I've encouraged,"

"You encouraged shit," May rolled her eyes. "Peter was Spider Man before you came along. When I found out about him, the only thing that made it slightly easier to deal with was the fact that I _knew_ you were looking out for him. When he had Spider Man problems, things that he couldn't tell me about, he went to you. When he got hurt, you helped him,"

"Barely,"

"No, not barely," she argued. "Do you know how hard it is for Peter to ask for help? To admit that he needs it? It's like pulling teeth to get him to admit he even has a cough. When he trusts you, he knows he can come to you."

"He didn't," Tony shook his head. "Not at first. And a lot of bad things happened to him that I didn't know about,"

"Right, but _now_ he comes to you, doesn't he? He talks to you, tells you things he didn't before, even if it's just nonsense about some movie, right?"

Tony thought to all those conversations where Peter just lost him. Movies and books and shows and memes and things he really didn't know about, but was happy to listen to. Happy to listen to Peter's voice talk about anything at all.

"Yeah, he does,"

May nodded.

"Peter has a very small list of people that he can be like that around," she explained. "And it takes a lot to get your name on it. And once you're there...you _cannot_ hurt him. If you're in that part of Peter's heart, it's just not an option. It would kill him-"

"I would never," Tony assured, his voice low and firm and certain. "I would never hurt him, May."

She smiled, nodding.

"I know that. That's why I could never hate you."

They passed the next few minutes in silence before Bruce came out to them. He was so confident in the operation and Helen's tissue work that Tony and May both let out a relieved sigh and hunched down in their seats. He explained that Peter would be out for the rest of the day and possibly morning, considering the dose of anaesthesia they had to administer. 

The pain meds would knock him around, too. Peter would need to stay in the medical ward for a few days before Bruce let him transfer home to his bedroom. Even then, he would be getting regular visits until he was fully recovered. Tony offered his floor at the compound so he could be monitored closely, and that eased a lot of May's worries.

But for now, they would focus on getting through the next few days.

* * *

Tony couldn't stop staring at the kid. His monitor beeped steadily throughout the room, reminding them he was here and alive and safe. But he was bruised black and blue all over. Wrapped in bandages covering stitches that had patches of red soaked through. It made Tony's stomach churn. Watching your child in pain was a whole other form of suffering. A form that Tony had never experienced before. 

There was no way he could sleep while Peter was like this, even if there was nothing he could do to help. Peter just needed rest, and he would wake up on his own when his body was ready. But Tony couldn't shut his eyes, couldn't look away.

May was just the same. She had managed to finish off the sandwich she bought hours ago and was currently nestled into a chair at Peter's side. Tony had been messaging back and forth with Rhodey and the team for the last ten minutes, organising a hunt for the people responsible. Rhodey knew just how important Peter was to Tony, and he wasn't going to give up until they had them all in custody.

"I can stay with him," May told him, softly. "If you need to head out, it's okay. They said it'd be a few more hours until it's out of his system,"

Tony shook his head.

"No, I don't need to go,"

"Alright. But it's okay if you do,"

"I don't think I could be anywhere else if I tried," Tony sighed. "If I couldn't see him, I'd feel sick,"

May smiled lightly, the exhaustion clear on her face.

"Welcome to the never-ending terror of parenting," 

Tony looked to her, his heart racing, shaking his head.

"I'm not...no, that's not what I meant-"

"Does it scare you? Is that it?" she asked, cutting him off gently. "Being a father?"

"No," he denied. "Well, I mean, sure, I guess. The idea of being responsible for an entire _human_ who isn't ready for the world kind of...yeah, it scares me,"

"I don't think it ever goes away," she explained. "That fear. It's what drives all of the love. The need to protect them, to shield them from anything that could hurt them, keep them from knowing any of the bad out there in the world. But they'll see it and they'll feel it even when we do our best."

Tony watched her carefully.

"Did you want kids?"

May shrugged, her eyes moving to Peter.

"We never really got around to it. Me and Ben...we were just two kids that never grew up ourselves. When Peter came into our life, we just...adapted. We weren't model parents, but no one is. Peter changed us in every way for the better and gave us everything we never knew about, everything we didn't know we needed. Then it became impossible to imagine our lives before him. Peter was everything from that moment on."

Tony wished he could have met little kid Peter. He probably would have been just as energetic and accident-prone as the teenager he is now. 

"And now he's everything to you, as well. Isn't he?" 

There was Tony's heart again.

"It's not my place. I'm not...I'm not cut out for it, you know? I'm not a role model for anyone, especially not someone so good, someone like Pete-"

"Do you know how much he adores you? And not in 'big fan of Iron Man' kind of way," May shook her head. "He loves _you_ , Tony. You and Peter have a bond that he needs. He barely knew his father, and when he lost Ben...I never thought he would let someone in like that again,"

"I could never take their place," Tony explained. "I would never _want_ to. I lost my father too, and then I lost the only guy that I looked up to in his place. There's no substitute for family,"

May shook her head.

"No, there isn't. But you are family, now. Don't you see that?"

Tony didn't say a word. Instead, he continued to stare at the sleeping boy with bruises all over his face. He would give anything to make it all better. To make sure Peter never felt pain again, that he was always safe and happy and protected. 

"Peter deserves better than me," he whispered.

May rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure he'd say you deserve better than him, too. You're too alike."

 _That's what I'm afraid of_ , Tony thought.

There was a brief pause between them, long enough for May to take another sip of her tea. 

"You've raised a good kid, May. Best one I know," he nodded. 

She grinned, knowing that Peter really was the best there was. 

"Well, it's nice to finally have a co-pilot again,"

Tony warmed at her words. 

Pepper would often point out to Tony how wonderful he was with Peter. She would tell him that only Peter got to see certain sides of his personality, parts that even Pepper hadn't noticed before the teen came into his life. Tony still approached affection with caution, as he always had, but Peter broke down the walls he had up for so many years. Walls that could only be broken down by those paternal feelings that Tony so frequently denied.

But with May's words and Peter's soft, delicate skin covered in black and blue splotches, Tony couldn't deny that feeling anymore. Being a father had always terrified him, and it seemed so hard to believe he could be attached to another person like this. But May was right. Peter changed things. 

When he woke up hours later, he was met with his aunt's hand holding his own and her gentle, soothing words. It took less than ten seconds for him to ask for Tony, who was right at his side. Just like he always would be. 


End file.
